User blog:Toxictangent/Winter 2018 Progress Log
As of typing this missive, it's already been 3 days since the event started. I really did not expect this event to drop on the first day of Lunar New Year of all days, which meant that I had no time at all to be a Teitoku until well, now. However, I guess it's ok since the first few days are generally reserved for the frontliners to gather the information that we need for success. I'll begin a few sorties today, but I'm not sure how much headway I can make as I have a lot of family reunions to attend. Event Operations 60063a92-3286-49f9-973c-df6769a7045e.jpg|Winter 2018 Ship List 48b66299-3dab-4a0c-ae54-236ba66d9e50.jpg|Winter 2018 Equipment List February 18th: Off I go. I probably only have time to unlock the boss node for E-1. I'm going on Easy for this map to conserve resources in the long run, and I'm willing to forgo the extra 3 Irakoes that I stand a chance to get if I try on Medium. Easy already nets some nice rewards such as gun materials and blueprints, as opposed to the new 'Casual' (read: Super Easy) mode that nets you nothing! So far I've just been running some of my lower level ships to conserve shiplocking should I ever decide to bump up to medium in the coming maps. I regret not leveling my DEs earlier, as they have such a boost against submarines that it's almost crazy. I'm still fielding them in to hit the checkpoints I need to unlock Node O, which is where the submarine princess resides. They're kind of fragile at the moment so I'm not sure if I'll put them in for the boss fight, but they've been doing real fine in demolishing run of the mill Ka-types. There's nothing much to say as of now and I've comfortably ticked all the boxes in unlocking the boss node, and am definitely looking to clear E-1 the next time I log in to play for an extended time. I'm starting to think that I should've tried normal mode, but maybe I'll hold off for now lest I eat my own words in draining my resources for the future maps. February 23rd: As of typing this, I have comfortably cleared E-1. It was a perfect run with the ideal setup, needing only 4 clean clears to make the map history. Fielding DEs has proven to be a good choice as they had no problem facing the boss nodes, with only 1 of the 2 in the fleet going to moderate damage at a time. Initially, I was unable to reach the boss node due to some line of sight issue, but swapping out Murakumo with Ryuujou proved to be an adequate solution to that. I was also able to equip Ka-types and the Type 3s in order to give Ryuujou more clout against the predominatly submarine enemies. All in all, E-1 passed without much incident, and I even netted Fujinami in the process! Ryuujou deserves MVP for this map, as she was the one that gave the fleet the line of sight needed to reach the boss node- E-1 would be impossible to complete without her. Ushio also deserves a honourable mention for her reliable ASW support throught the phase. Much of the crucial hits against the submarine boss were dealt with her depth charges, and in clearing the mob submarines too. Moving on to E-2, I realised that certain crucial nodes were now too far out of reach for my LBAS airplanes. The only way I could extend my range to reach these nodes were to use large flying boats such as the PBY-5A Catalina. This worried me, as I didn't have one in my naval base. Some quick research led me to find that it was unlockable through a quest, though it would force me to give up a (perhaps) equally useful piece of equipment, the seaplane fighter. I chose to get the Catalina over the seaplane fighter, as the fighter could be obtained through enough tinkering with Akashi's Improvement Arsenal, and also because the Catalina could immediately be put to use by improving the range of my Type 96 Land Based Attack Aircraft. All that was left was to unlock and complete the quests that I needed to do to get the Catalina. A few sorties later, the Catalina was added to the LBAS for use in E-2. I'll leave it at here for today and make a start on E-2 the next time I Kancolle. I've got a roster of Yamashiro, Fusou, Mogami, Shigure, Hatsuzuki, Yukikaze, and I-8 for the first stage of E-2, and I'm cautiously optimistic that this fleet will do wonders. February 25th: As of typing this, I have cleared E-2. This map was slightly harder than E-1, but nothing that the fleet couldn't handle. Seems like the lengthy prerequisites for getting to the boss node persist in this event as well. My aforementioned 7-ship fleet of Yamashiro and co. made it to Node Y without incident, and I am happy to see the backs of the PT imps as well. I fielded I-8, I-58 and I-400 to scout ahead from Node A till T in what was a lengthy sortie so as to unlock the second start point, and this too came to pass by the skin of my teeth. My final setup for boss clearances was a Surface Task Force with Nagato, Myoukou, Mogami, Kumano, and the Chitose class as the main fleet along with Kiso, the Tone class, Hatsuzuki, Yukikaze, and Shimakaze rounding off the escort fleet. Apart from one lucky strike by the enemy air raid that sent the fleet home early, we cleared E-2's boss in clean kill runs. Not all of them were S ranks due to being unable to finish off the escort fleet in the day (just by a sliver!), but I was satisfied that the boss was reliably being sunk. I managed to net Katsuragi as well, fulfilling one of my goals from Winter 2017! Nagato deserves the MVP award for this map with consistent damage output that was augmented even further by the skilled observation seaplane that I picked up in the last event. She dealt many crucial hits that sent the sorties along smoothly. Kiso gets an honourable mention for scoring the clutch hits where everyone else seemed to miss. There were several occasions where the enemy's evasion inexplicably went through the roof and everyone was hitting air, until Kiso came along to seal the deal. Clearing E-2 also netted me Hiburi as the clearance reward. I have decided to stay on Easy mode going into E-3, as I don't have enough historical ships and leveled ships to spare to be able to survive the locking mechanisms. As of now, I've unlocked the second start point with the usage of a 2 man submarine team (I-19 and I-58), and have scored two boss kills with a Carrier Task Force. Shoukaku, Kaga, the Chitose sisters and the Fusou sisters make up the main fleet while Isuzu, the Tone sisters, Hatsuzuki, Yukikaze and Ooi round off the escort fleet. E-3 also featured air defense raids, which is why I've dedicated one of my 2 LBAS bases to air defence and kitted it out with my hard earned interceptors and land based fighters. This is the first time that I'll be able to utilise them, and I'm glad my work paid off in obtaining them as they have saved me from unwanted resource destruction by fending off the air raids (aside from the first raid which caught me unawares). I am definitely looking to complete E-3 by the next time I Kancolle. I anticipate a stiffer challenge for the last dance, and have decided to keep Maya and Choukai in reserve for Tone and Chikuma in case I lack the firepower to finish off the boss. Since I'll be on easy mode for the foreseeable future, the shiplocking shouldn't bother me at all. March 3rd: As of typing this, I have cleared E-3. It turns out that in the end, there was no need to activate Choukai and Maya as the Tone sisters were more than apt for the job. I learnt that despite placing interceptors in the 2nd air base to defend against air raids, it was still possible to lose some resources to attrition as the bases would not remain unscathed. Still, it was a form of damage mitigation that I'm glad I implemented. This map hasn't been much so I won't dwell on it for much longer. I didn't receive any new ships in this map. Hatsuzuki by far deserves the MVP for this map. E-3 was filled with enemy air attacks, be they from air raid nodes or from enemy carriers. She even dealt the decisive last blow to the enemy boss! Without Hatsuzuki's AACI, the planes that I brought along would not have stood the test of attrition, which was also not possible without the trusty aid of the LBAS. The often unsung heroes of the map, sortieing left and right so as to provide crucial air support where it mattered. Altogether, these 2 variables allowed me to reliably attain air superiority at the boss nodes. In other news, I got another Souryuu from clearing the boss. If only it was a Zuikaku instead! Moving ahead to E-4. The boss unlocking route involved travelling along the southern corridor with my makeshift Nishimura fleet. I initially tried this on Medium and just barely made the requirements at Node N on the third attempt, (which was to get a B rank+) due to pesky PT imps and their insane damage and evasion during night-only nodes M and N. This was the start of harder times to come. It was only when I tried to form a fleet to reach the boss along the northern corridor that I realised I had long ago locked out some crucial destroyers from being used... I subsequently dropped to Easy mode to avoid the shiplocking, and had a 60% success rate at the boss node with a surface task force. Kongou, Haruna, Nagato, Kumano, and the Chitose Sisters made up the main fleet, and the escort fleet roster was filled up with Sendai, Maya, Choukai, Shigure, Hatsuzuki, and Kitakami. The FCF saw action in this map, with Shigure and Yukikaze rotating as the escort destroyers where necessary. By the time I'd ceased operations for the day, I had managed to bring the boss health bar down to about half. I even netted Asagumo during this time. March 4th: As of typing this, I have cleared E-4. It took 5 sorties, one of which was a retreat. I am very grateful for the friend fleet support which triggered every time I managed to get it to the boss- it really made life a lot easier for my escort fleet to seal the deal. As usual, all went swimmingly until the last dance run, which forced my fleet back as I did not have the capacity to escort back 2 heavily damaged ships at the same time. For the final run, I decided to activate the support expedition of Fubuki, Shigure, Shoukaku, Hiei, Kirishima, and Fusou, which I had prepared earlier but left on standby as it seemed that my fleet was capable of reaching and clearing the boss without their assistance prior to the last dance. As it happens, the final run was one where the stars seemed to align. All of my ships evaded receiving heavy damage, with only Kitakami being reduced to medium damage by the time we moved out to Node X. The fleet was poised for victory. With the help of LBAS and the boss support expedition, the enemy escort fleet had been decimated. A furious round of shelling commenced after Kitakami choked in the opening torpedo strike, which left the boss alone and wounded by the time the night battle segment came. The Nishimura friend fleet arrived to whittle down the boss' HP further, with consecutive torpedo cut-ins bringing the boss to only 80HP, leaving it to be finished off with a single critical blow from Sendai. MAIN OPERATIONS ARE OVER. Gambier Bay is safe in our anchorage. The Chitose sisters have been stalwarts of the main fleet from E-2 to E-4, providing steady and reliable air support where nobody else could. It is because of them that the skies above the battlefield have had a fighting chance to support our victories. They have done well in coming this far- from when they were once AVs, now they are my most dependable fast CVLs, or any CVL for that matter. I will depend on them greatly for the rest of the event and beyond. Along the way, one of the boss runs rewarded me with my first foreign ship: Richelieu! Her drop rate is even rarer than that of Warspite or Ark Royal, and I am definitely considering farming for these ships as well. As for the honourable mention award of E-4, I am giving it to Kumano for her token assistance in air battles and ASW, (little but appreciated) as well as consistently punching above her weight in surface batttles- a few Ru-class elites have fallen to her volleys, and she dealt impressive damage for a CAV against the final boss in the day. The question now is, what's next? I have until the 22nd of March to navigate around the event world. For once I have more resources to accommodate the expansion into extra operations, though I am considering hunkering down to farm the foreign ships in E-4. If I am to continue through to the event operations though, I would want to hit at least E-6, as E-5 does not look very rewarding (and the SK radar in E-6 is tempting...). March 16th As of typing this, I have cleared E-5. This came about after some half-hearted attempts at farming last week, and coming to the conclusion that I should try to push on through the extra operations to E-6 at least, for the SK radar if anything. The map itself was a similar one to E-3, except that there wasn't a stage 1 boss so to speak. There was 2 phases, the first being a lengthy TP phase that could've put Fall 2015 E-2 to shame, followed by a boss run for the Heavy Cruiser Princess. I have no love for TP phases, and anticipated a long slog to the finish line. However, with the striking force of Ashigara, Mogami, Abukuma, Shimakaze, Ushio, Hatsuzuki, and Akitsumaru, the TP phase ended a lot faster than I had thought. This was in part due to the damage bonuses that Shima fleet members (Ashigara, Ushio, and Shimakaze) gained in the map, and also with the strategic usage of barrels and a daihatsu brought by Akitsumaru to chip away at the TP bar. It took 8 runs to fully deplete the bar, which is a fair bit but the safest option to take- I couldn't guarantee the firepower to consistently S rank the boss if I had added more daihatsus or barrels. The striking force fleet command facility proved it's worth in this phase, allowing my fleet to continue even as Akitsumaru was forced to return to base multiple times (for some reason, she was a popular target for the enemy fleet). One thing that I noted as I begun Phase 2 was that the nodes required a ridiculous amount of air presence to get air superiority. Not having any seaplane fighters really screwed my chances for attaining any air presence at all- and after having my Zuiuns wiped on the first run, I simply decided to run an AI build on the striking force. Swapping out Mogami for Maya gave me some extra AA power, and Akitsumaru was also replaced with Hibiki to fulfil branching rules and to field a more reliable damage dealer. LBAS consisted of a full bomber complement which was extremely helpful in whittling away the enemy escort fleet in the day and set me up for consistent S ranks whenever my fleet made it to the boss. Most of the troubles in this phase were the lucky hits that attrited my fleet into retreating before the boss node. The SFCF wasn't viable in this phase as having less than 4 destroyers would result in a more unfavourable branching midway through the run, so having the fleet at less than full strength was unacceptable. By the time I reached last dance, I began toying with the notion of sending a boss support expedition, only to have the fleet return prematurely to base without having the chance to activate it at the boss. In a bout of absentmindedness, I accidentally sent my fleet out again after repairs and resupplying, and forgot to sortie the boss support expedition. This left me slightly worried, as previous history with last dance runs told me that my luck was about to take a turn for the worse. To my surprise, the fleet evaded major damage in the initial air raid node, and in the subsequent surface battles (one of them due to triggering the Red T). We were in a good position to sink the Heavy Cruiser Princess at last. The final battle went swimmingly- LBAS decimated the escort fleet, and after a heated exchange in the day battle, the enemy fleet was down to the boss and a Ne-class Heavy Cruiser at medium damage by the time the fleet rolled over to the night battle. I was worried that the Ne-class would draw too much aggro, but those worries were unfounded- with my fleet evading damage even in the day phase, they were more than ready to send the both of them to their watery graves. Shimakaze deserves the MVP award for this map. Perhaps it's because of the damage bonus, but she has punched well above her weight in this event map, and often took sortie MVP status from Ashigara and Maya due to numerous well-placed critical hits where the other 2 missed the shots. She also avoided taking major damage at a good rate, and could be relied upon as a solid secondary damage dealer when Ashigara or Maya became crippled, or choked. I managed to pick up Yamakaze on one of my Phase 2 boss runs, which I am pleased about given how salty I've seen some people get while farming for her. Lastly, an honourable mention goes to Akitsumaru in her assistance to achieve air parity in Phase 1, and for carrying the daihatsu that decreased the overall sortie quota by 1 to clear the TP Phase. I have no idea why she became a constant target for the enemy fleet, but she held her own as best as possible and even contributed a little to the surface battle. I will see how much progress I can get into E-6 tomorrow. But for now, it's time to get some well-earned rest. March 17th: As of typing this, I am past Phase 1 of E-6. There are 3 phases in total for this map, each of which involves defeating an abyssal princess. A strike force consisting of Hiei, Kirishima, Ashigara, Ushio, Shimakaze, Hatsuzuki and Maya stormed through the lengthy northern corridor for 3 clean kills of the Seaplane Tender Princess. This phase was no problem at all due to the availability of the friend fleets to help chip away even more health from the boss before our fleet closed in for the night battle. It goes without saying that the LBAS helped immensely to wipe out the escort fleet and much of the enemy main fleet in the day. Phase 2 posed to be more of a challenge due to the friend fleet not being available. Ship locking was also enforced, even on easy difficulty, leaving me limited to my Kurita fleet tagged ships to clear this phase. The striking force comprised of Haruna, Kongou, Kumano, Maya, Choukai, Shimakaze, and Fubuki. Fubuki was added in order to maintain some sort of AA firepower, as Hatsuzuki was tagged under the Nishimura Fleet and was unable to participate. Subsequent runs led me to realise that there was no enemy air presence to speak of, and that night battle equipment was mandatory for finishing off the Battleship Princess. I see why they call her 'Dyson'. I swapped out Maya for TCI Kitakami to clutch the wins where needed, and kitted out all the night battle equipment I had. The fleet scored a clean kill on Dyson, leaving the last dance for Phase 2 in sight. Optimistic as I was, I couldn't forsee the LBAS failing to trigger during the boss run. Had it came to help, I would've successfully destroyed the escort fleet and finished off Dyson for good. However, my plans were foiled by a deadly air raid which crippled my LBAS and hence left my fleet without air support, turning the boss battle into a costly shelling exchange. Dyson slipped through my fingers as my fleet was forced to mop up the escort fleet while the main one retreated at night. Update: Calling in a boss support expedition with Yuudachi, Shigure, Shoukaku, Hiei, Nagato, and Fusou did the trick to tip the scales in my favour. Dyson was done in with a final salvo from Choukai during the night battle. All that was left was Phase 3- to defeat the Aircraft Carrier Water Demon. This took me back to the northern corridor, where I dispatched Kirishima, Kongou, Haruna, Ashigara, Mogami, Hatsuzuki, and Shimakaze to bring an end to this madness. It was quickly looking to be a 50% rate of reaching the boss again, until I swapped out Kirishima's searchlight for the SFCF. Things went smoothly until last dance, as always. Adding in a Battleship Princess to the final boss fleet brought along a whole new level of cancerous nonsense. I came agonisingly close to beating the boss with Shimakaze extracted, leaving it at a hair-tearing 2 HP. The next run looked no better, with frustrating pot shots in the pre boss nodes chipping away at my fleet's health. By some fluke, we escaped Node R unscathed, only to have an accursed Red T at the boss node. The Battleship Princess simply drew too much aggro from my fleet and I couldn't seem to break through. Just...why. I worry for my liver's health. With all this salt piling up, I can only pray for my fleet's success. I've done all I can. Update 2: At last. The long march is over. The last run didn't look too good at the start- Ashigara was critted to medium damage in the first air raid, and Hatsuzuki was forced to extract at Node R. The boss node looked dire- despite LBAS whittling away the escort fleet and the boss support expedition's shelling, my fleet was getting chewed to pieces. Kirishima was reduced to medium damage, and the other two Kongou class ships were out of action for the night battle. That was where our luck changed. The friend fleet that came to our rescue was none other than 4th Cruiser Division, and obliterated the Battleship Princess with TCIs from Atago and Choukai. Without the other princess to draw aggro, Maya then reduced the Water Demon's health to a measly 14HP, which was ripe for a last-gasp shelling from Kirishima to save the day. The MVP for E-6 goes to Kirishima. She was a solid backbone of the fleet in Phase 1, helping to neutralise the Seaplane Tender Princess with her shelling and innate 2nd round mechanic. Though she wasn't directly involved in Phase 2, she was part of the boss support expedition which give the crucial extra punch to finally sink the Battleship Princess, in absence of a friend fleet. As the flagship for Phase 3, she served her utility role to enable night battle bonuses with the searchlight, and in holding the SFCF which made the runs viable where SFCF-less fleets were forced to retreat. Let us not forget that she dealt the final blow to end the Water Demon, thus completing E-6 once and for all. There were no noteworthy drops in this node sadly. I was hoping to pick up Tashkent along the way but with my luck as it is, it seemed like a long shot. I must once again give honourable mention to the LBAS, which played such an indispensible role in attriting the enemy escort fleet in all 3 phases, while also enduring countless enemy raids which I sadly could not afford to defend against as it would jeopardise the success of the sortie. Victory would quite literally not have been possible without their assistance. With this, I have officially closed the map clearing operations. I am looking forward to farming E-4, with foreign ships such as Ark Royal and Warspite being up for grabs. These exotic ships which I previously would never have a chance in hell of obtaining are finally within reach, so it would be foolish of me not to try before this event ends. Post Event Debrief As of March 18th, I have officially closed all event operations. It has been a long and arduous event, but also one where I have made the most progression of all. This is the first time that I have dared to venture further than the normal operations, and successfully cleared 6 out of 7 maps. I may have missed out on crucial farming time, but I am pleased with my haul from clearing the event maps. Key achievements and highlights: 1. Rescuing Gambier Bay and both Hiburi class DEs early on in the event. The E-4 boss was an obstacle in itself to overcome, which also rewarded me with Richelieu, a highlight in itself. 2. Obtaining Katsuragi in E-2, a ship that I had wanted for a long time. 3. Clearing through E-5 without cover from the friend fleet, proving that it was possible to down the Heavy Cruiser Princess with the efforts of a single strike force. 4. Phase 2 of E-6, where we had to take down the Battleship Princess without the help of a friend fleet as well. 5. The last-gasp effort to sink the Water Demon in Phase 3 E-6... after a slew of unlucky and unfruitful runs. 6. Managing to obtain not one, but 2 Warspites in my scant farming phase. A stroke of unbelievable luck. The success of this event was due to many factors- one being the acquisition of crucial equipment to mitigate damage and achieve the extra firepower where it counted. The SFCF, SK Radar, and my hard won interceptors are examples of such equipment which gave the fleet a much needed edge. It also helped that my fleet were at an adequate level to challenge the maps on easy mode- though I must confess that I have been slightly troubled by the other admiral's screencaps of their easy mode fleet, which have ships in the high level 70s and 80s. If this is truly the case, it is a wonder that I have made it thus far with an average ship level of 55 in most of the fleet participants. Experience that I gained from previous events on how to make the best use of LBAS, FCF, and SFCF were also put to good use in order to keep the sorties viable and the fleet health in a non-critical state. Particular attention was paid to the ship locking mechanics that persisted even on Easy mode, which I still need a bit of polishing in. Things which held me back in this event were similar to the previous one. I did not have sufficient manpower to survive shiplocking in Medium, hence I was forced to stick to Easy mode. If I am to break free of this, I need to start leveling other key ships such as Suzuya, Haguro, Nachi, and a slew of other destroyers to a more viable state. I was also limited in my air presence due to the lack of seaplane fighters, a problem that I was unfortunately unable to remedy in the preparation time, due to not having sufficient screws to improve a recon seaplane. My goals for future events are as such: 1. Compile a list of important ships to level, and gradually train them up to be event-ready (long term) 2. Acquire enough scews to improve a recon seaplane until I get a seaplane fighter. 3. Craft more radars. This event has allowed me to see just how far I have come, ever since my first foray into events in Fall 2015. I'm proud of my fleet's progress throughout the years, and am looking forward to see what the future holds in this game.